First Edition Cycling News for December 13, 2006

ProTour split resumes

In what may been seen as a further attempt to distance themselves from
the UCI ProTour, the three Grand Tour organisers have released a new selection
criteria for their eleven principal races that are currently part of the
ProTour calendar.

The joint statement from ASO, RCS Sport and Unipublic, released Tuesday,
begins: "All attempts at reconciliation with the Union Cycliste Internationale
have ended due to the refusal of the latter to return to an open sporting
model, and not wishing to see their events being part of a closed system
called the 'UCI ProTour', RCS Sport, ASO and Unipublic, organisers of
the three Grand Tours, had to define the conditions of participation,
as from 2007, with their principal events."

Instead of the current system where all 20 ProTour teams qualify automatically,
the Grand Tour organisers are proposing the following:

- From 2008, 16 teams will qualify automatically, based on criteria still
under development, but mainly performances over the previous two seasons.
The details of these criteria will be announced before March 1, 2007,
after consultation with the teams and riders.
- For the 2007 season, the 18 teams currently holding ProTour licences
will qualify automatically.
- It will not be compulsory for teams to compete in all eleven races,
provided they inform the organiser before December 31 of the previous
year.
- Each race organiser reserves the right to refuse participation to any
rider or team staff member who may harm the image of the race.
- The organiser of each race will be able to invite wildcards. For each
Grand Tour, they must be allocated at least three months prior to the
start, while the total number of teams must not exceed 22 in 2007 and
20 from 2008 onwards.

It's possible the 'right to refuse participation' could see the Grand
Tour organisers join the growing movement of events refusing to allow
riders implicated in the Operación Puerto investigations to compete
in their events.

Tinkoff wants to race Denmark

Tinkoff Credit Systems has expressed its concern over statements made by
Jesper Worre, the Tour of Denmark race organiser, where the Dane said he
wanted to exclude the team from his event. "It is not fair to exclude racers
from a race when they are not condemned for any wrong doing," said Tinkoff
Credit Systems' general manager, Stefano Feltrin to Cyclingnews.
Worre, who is also the chairman of Denmark's cycling union, said that his
race does not want
Discovery Channel, with Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, Team LPR and Tinkoff Credit
Systems.

"And I am even more surprised for our exclusion in the Tour of Denmark.
We have signed a rider who has served his time and is free to race," continued
Feltrin in regards to the team's new signing, Tyler Hamilton. The American
was found positive for blood transfusion in fall of 2004 but has served
a two-year ban from
cycling.

"We are getting grouped together with the other teams. One, is that we
are not a ProTour team, and don't apply to the gentlemen's agreement
that was made, and the second is that Tyler Hamilton is not involved in
Operación Puerto at all."

Hamilton was allegedly
connected to the Operación Puerto investigation last June when
it was reported that documents were found detailing payments made to Eufemiano
Fuentes.

"But there have been no statements or contact from the authorities by
this," continued Feltrin to Cyclingnews. "There has never been
anything said by the federations against him; just rumours."

The general manager pointed out that they do want to race in Denmark's
race and that he would like to speak personally with Worre.

"We have signed people who can legally race, who have no legal reason
why they can't race. We are surprised that someone does not want us, based
on rumours and suspicions. ... We are being penalized for what has happened
in the past, and what a rider has already served time for.

"We would like to talk further with Worre." Did Tinkoff even have prior
intentions in competing in the Tour of Denmark? "Of course, we are interested
in all major tours; it was our intention to participate. We would still
like to race in the Tour of Denmark."

First witnesses testify in Operación Puerto

Jesús Hernández Blázquez and Alberto Contador Velasco have become the
first to testify in the Operación Puerto investigation after they
appeared before judge Antonio Serrano on Monday. The pair were the first
to take to the stand as they both live in Madrid.

The cyclists were asked three questions each. Firstly, they were asked
if they know the people involved in the case, then if any of those people
had ever obliged them to take any pharmaceuticals and finally, if they
suffered any damage to their health caused by those medications.

Both denied ever having noticed any type of doping in the Team Liberty.
Jesús Hernández (Relax-Gam), who rode for Liberty in 2004 and 2005, stated
that he does not even know Eufemiano Fuentes personally.

But according to journalist Sergi López Egea, Hernández mentioned in
his statement that Manolo Sáiz was the one who had total control of the
team, including medication. The 25 year-old mentioned patches that the
riders applied on their skin, but he did not mention the type of substance
used. The case's investigators believe it could be testosterone.

The two cyclists were the first of the many witnesses. It's believed
Serrano intends to have more than 50 professional riders testify, including
Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso. In fact, the involved cyclists are not liable
under Spanish law, but could be subject to prosecution for lying under
oath if they are found to have testified about something other than the
truth concerning their relations to Fuentes.

Villumsen makes history at awards

Linda Villumsen has become the first women to ever take Denmark's rider
of the year award, at the nation's cycling awards held in Copenhagen.
Villumsen, who was absence from the awards ceremony, took out this year's
La Route de France Féminine and is the reigning U23 European Time Trial
Champion.

The 21-year-old rider took the title head of Michael Rasmussen and Brian
Vandborg. Junior riders Mie Bekker Lacota and Niki Řstergaard were also
among the nominees.

BMC launch 2007 program

The newly formed BMC Professional Cycling Team has commenced preparations
for the 2007 season with its first team meeting, held at the Endurance
Performance Training Centre in California. Also in attendance at the US-based
continental team's first meeting were Andy Rihs of BMC Bicycles and team
advisor Jim Ochowicz

"We felt it was important to bring the entire organization together early
to begin the important process of molding a group of individuals into
a team," said team director Gavin Chilcott. "This camp was our first success
as a Team".

BMC's riders completed a medical testing session with team doctors Massimo
Testa and Eric Heiden in addition to endurance testing with physiologists
on hand at the centre.

Malaysia returns to continental ranks

By Greg Johnson

Malaysia will return to the world of continental pro-cycling next year
following the unveiling of new outfit BalpaCC Cycling Team. The outfit,
headed by team manager Wadisham Wahab, will be the first Malaysian team
to compete at that level since the closure of the Proton Cycling Team
at the end of 2005.

BCT has announced a nine-rider lineup in addition to former pro-rider
Mohamad Fauzi Shafihi and Nur Nadea who will act as the team's sport directors
in 2007. The outfit is currently holding discussions with two potential
title sponsors and is also considering adding a further two riders to
its lineup.

Discovery gets First Endurance

First endurance has announced its brand Optygen has struck a deal to
become the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team's official supplement provider
for the next two seasons. "We're very pleased that the Discovery team
has chosen to partner with First Endurance for the next two years," says
Mike Fogarty, VP of Sales & Marketing at First Endurance. "This partnership
will help First Endurance gain mainstream brand awareness in North America
and continue to expand in Europe."

Optygen has been in development since 2002 and is patent-pending for
its ability to increase VO2Max.

US Cyclo-cross champs start this weekend

The 2006 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships will kick off
this weekend with a record-breaking 1,940 entrants. Held for the second
year at Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island, riders will fight
for 28 national titles.

As a testament to the ever-increasing popularity of the sport in the
U.S. The entry numbers represent a 14-percent increase over the 2005 edition
US Cyclo-cross Championships and a 41-percent growth compared to 2004.

Racing starts Friday with 14 master national championships. Saturday
will include junior racing, the U23 and collegiate women's events, the
U23 men's contest and the elite men's race. Competition will close Sunday
with the collegiate men's and elite women's races. Two non-national championship
categories - the class-B events and the Pro-Elite Cup - will also be contested
Sunday.

Defending elite and two-time Cyclo-cross National Champion Todd Wells
(GT/Hyundai) will face US National MTB Cross-Country Champion Ryan Trebon
(Kona). Trebon recently dominated the US field by winning the 2006 U.S.
Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross series (USGP). USGP overall runner-up Tim Johnson
(Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) will also present Wells with some tough
competition, as will perennial 'cross powerhouses Adam Craig (Bend, Ore./Giant)
Mark McCormack (Northeaston, Mass./Clif Bar), Barry Wicks (Corvallis,
Ore./Kona), and three-time National Champion Jonathan Page (Cervelo).
Page is normally the dominator in US Cyclo-cross National Championships
races but the rider from the Northeast who focuses on European competition
has been sidelined with a shoulder injury and his form is unseen. So even
though Wells is the defending champ, a top-ten finish for Trebon at last
weekend's Superprestige in Belgium suggests he will be marked as the man
to beat.

Two-time winner and defending elite women's National Champion Katie Compton
(Spike/Primus Mootry) will face an 81-rider field. To take the win for
a third year in a row, she'll need to be stronger than other primary contenders
like Anne Knapp (Seattle, Wash./Kona), Dorothy Wong (Altadena, Calif./Figueroa
Farms-Redline-MS Society) and Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho/Luna), who
is the reigning Mountain Bike National Champion and second-place finisher
in this year's USGP Series.

Clarke confirmed for Tassie Carnivals

Tasmanian Nathan Clarke, a winner of the Australian team pursuit title
in both 2005 and 2006, will spearhead the local challenge at the National
Grid Christmas Carnival Series. As one of the few riders continuing to
compete at elite level and still work full time, Clarke will concentrate
on the scratch races while also hoping to reach the finals of some of
the major wheel races. "It might be a bit tough this year with only six
or so guys off scratch but you can never tell what is going to happen
so I'll be giving it my best shot to get into the finals of the wheel
races," he said

Grant Atkins, President of the Sports Carnivals Association of Tasmania,
believes that Clarke should be commended for his unique work ethic. "There
are not many cyclists that can compete at an elite level and work full
time," he said. "Nathan is a fantastic role model for younger riders.
He is extremely well respected by all and every time he gets on the bike
you know he puts 110% into it, it's great we have this sort of talent
at a local level".